“You want to investigate the entire town?” I asked.
“If that’s what it takes to keep you safe.”
“Is it for my safety?” I took a breath. “Or is this about revenge?”
“Maybe it’s both.”
I bit my lip. Maddox’s chest raged with muscle, tattoos, and now…scars. Burn scars and flicks of cuts and scrapes that I didn’t remember. Injuries from prison.
Maddox acted like the world was out to get him. I hated that he was right. His family abused him. His gang used his strength for their crimes. The town feared him. And then…the prison sentence.
He should have been angrier. Harder. He should have hated me.
I couldn’t keep the secret forever. I only hoped that maybe he’d understand.
But even I wasn’t that naïve.
I avoided his gaze, but that meant staring at his ink. The raging stripes of color interspersed between the black, tribal curls over his biceps and abs. They were as amazing as they were frightening. I used to love tracing the markings. I loved the name tattooed over his heart more.
Josie.
Just being near him distracted me. I’d longed for him in the shower and cut my ankle shaving. I’d burnt the toast—twice—because he sat once again at my breakfast table and waited for whatever I served. And now, I babbled like an idiot because his chest twitched when he crossed his arms. That hard-packed muscle was the only thing missing from my bed to make my temporary apartment feel like home.
But he hadn’t come to my bed last night, despite my every hope. It was a relief, but a lonely one. Sleeping with him wouldn’t solve our problems. But he wasn’t respecting my privacy. Had Maddox wanted me, he’d have taken me. He stayed away because he was keeping watch over me.
Like he expected something terrible to happen.
Well, I feared it too. The knocking at my door late at night came too soon after Nolan’s threats. I’d imagine him forcing his way inside. It wasn’t a good thought, but I felt safe with Maddox.
Always had.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll go to the station and ask a couple questions, but you can’t expect me to believe that Chief Craig is some sort of arsonist. Why would he do such a thing?”
Maddox tugged a shirt over his head. I wished I hadn’t watched how his abs flexed.
Or how his scars shimmered.
“He has his reasons.” His voice dropped. “More than you would know.”
“So tell me.”
He ignored me. “Ready to go?”
“How am I supposed to tell the Chief of Police I suspect he was involved with the arson if I don’t know his motive?”
Maddox tossed me my coat. He held the door open. “I’m his motive.”
“This is Saint Christie, not New York City.”
“You’re right. It’s worse.”
“You’re keeping something from me.”
Maddox slammed the door closed. I stood my ground, waiting for his temper.
“You’re one to talk,” he said.
“What does the Chief have to do with me or you?”
“Who were you hiding from last night?” He shrugged. “And why?”
We both quieted. I twisted against the secret as he approached.
Maddox was a solid force of muscle and strength. He summoned every wicked and depraved fantasy I ever imagined, and we once acted on them. All of them. Even the ones that made me blush whenever I looked at the alligator clips closing a bag of chips.
Everything about him screamed dominance and fierceness, but also safety, protection, and desire.
He balanced that raw edge near me, for me, every day we had been together. We were so wrong for each other, but I still feared losing him, especially when so many secrets and lies separated us.
His arm looped around my back, and his hand gripped my hair. I swallowed as he lowered close to me, his words softer than his touch. I melted. Seized. Shattered.
“Are you in trouble, Sweets?” His whisper rumbled a quiet authority. I knew better than to disobey.
“Now I am.”
“You know you’re safe with me.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I want to help. I’m doing this to protect you.”
I didn’t push him away, but I should have wiggled from his embrace before I dissolved into a sticky mess. His arms tightened, and I stared at his perfect lips, thin and pulled against a hard jaw and harder chin. He was close enough to kiss, just a brush or a nibble. His touch could deliver me from the insanity and back to the only part of my life that made sense.
Loving him.
“We have a lot of work to do,” I said, softly.
“Nothing is going to happen to you, Sweets.” His promise burned me, just as I knew it seared through him and the scars he earned saving my life. “I won’t let anything hurt you.”